NEW YORK (AP) – Whether it’s kimchi, beets or broccoli, the pandemic has had a strange impact on food cravings that go beyond the joy of eating comfortably.
Almost a year in isolation, many people are adopting foods long forgotten or rejected for their taste, texture or smell. Some have forced themselves to reevaluate health-oriented foods to help boost the immune system. And with homemade food on the rise, there is a new adventure in the kitchen.
For Maeri Ferguson, 31, in Brooklyn, it’s all about pears.
After recovering from COVID-19, she spent months without a normal taste and smell. Many foods that she loved simply did not satisfy. Now, Ferguson can taste sweetness, salinity and spices again, but most foods lack flavor nuances.
Not pears.
“My whole life I have always spent pears. Not because I didn’t like them. They just intimidated me, ”said Ferguson. “I did not understand the differences between the varieties, how to determine the ripeness. I knew the taste of a green and bad pear, but not a good one. “
During the pandemic, a friend gave her a practical gift cutter and she struggled to figure out how to identify a good pear. It was one of the first foods she could really taste.
“I am totally converted,” said Ferguson. “I will never forget to bite a red and juicy pear and finally taste that sweet taste and just the slightest acidity. It was a profound experience that made me appreciate a food that I used to tolerate. “
Although Ferguson may not have high selling pears, a big winner in the pandemic is fermented foods.
Anastasia Sharova, a chef in Stuttgart, Germany, runs Happybellyfish.com, an online cooking school focused on healthy foods. He added fermentation classes in late 2019, when the pandemic began. Suddenly, interest in making kimchi, miso and sauerkraut skyrocketed. Kombucha was already a trend and helped popularize homemade fermentation.
“Health became the number one priority for many last year,” said Sharova. “Secondly, everyone had extra time at home, so it was finally possible to try new things in the kitchen that require time. Third, food fermentation is perceived as a hobby in itself and is a great community activity, even if your community is on Zoom or just within your own family. “
Alicia Harper, 30, is now in the fermentation field. The New York nutritionist was well aware of the health benefits, but he was not personally a fan before the pandemic.
“I found the fermented taste too strong for me and the fermented smell was unpleasant. Since I tried again recently, my opinion has completely changed. Now I have come to love the taste and smell, ”she said. “The pandemic really made me appreciate my health more.”
Anne Alderete is enjoying something she never thought she would: natto. Made from fermented soybeans, natto is popular in Japan, but is considered too slimy and smelly by some.
“I have smelled it many times since I am half Japanese and lived in Tokyo after college for seven years,” said Alderete, 47, in Los Angeles. “For a long time I wanted to understand the magic that I just wasn’t experiencing. I remembered old, dirty socks. “
Now, she devours natto bought at the store almost every week. Among his favorite ways to eat it is spread on a thick slice of toast covered with cheese and melted on the grill.
“I feel somewhat virtuous when I am a natto because the health benefits are many, but also because it brought me closer to my roots,” said Alderete.
The long shelf life of many fermented foods is another attraction.
While concerns about health and comforting foods played an important role, an expert thinks that changes in the way we eat also come from having more time at home to digest a bout of news on nutrition and the food chain.
“The pandemic has allowed many of us to finally recognize some uncomfortable truths about the food system,” said Ryan Andrews, a registered nutritionist who wrote a book on plant-based food.
“People learned about the unsafe working conditions in slaughterhouses, the unfair wages of rural workers, the chronic diseases that we all face related to diet, the inhuman ways we raise farm animals and the immense ecological tribute of industrialized agriculture,” he said. Ryan, a Precision Nutrition consultant, who certifies nutrition coaches.
Suddenly, he said, “The organic lentil and mushroom soup that didn’t look so attractive before the pandemic became part of the weekly meal routine.”
At the same time, an analysis of Google searches by market research firm Semrush on the strange and wonderful shift in food interests during the pandemic pointed to comfort. The company found a 17% increase in searches for “peanuts and coca” in December compared to December 2019, and a 33% increase for “ham and melon”. He found a 95% increase for “bacon and jam”.
At WoodSpoon, a New York-based app that connects home chefs with hungry customers, the comfort trend is more than evident. Before the pandemic, there was a strong interest in healthy offerings and less processed foods. Then it was about babka, pasta and ribs.
“In difficult times like these, diners are looking for authentic homemade food and want to support local chefs. The trend has been going on for some time and the pandemic has taken it to the next level, ”said Oren Saar, cofounder and CEO of WoodSpoon.
Beetroot never stood a chance for Caroline Hoffman, 25, until the pandemic arrived and she forgot to buy tomatoes for the pizza sauce one day. Instead, she mixed some beets and left, overcoming her rudeness factor.
“Now I’m hooked. I made beet hummus, beet noodles and simply beet salads. I don’t know why I didn’t discover this before, but now I buy a weekly bag like cereal, ”said Hoffman, in Chicago.
Others are reconnecting with their childhood favorites, revisiting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or preparing grilled cheeses to eat with canned tomato soup. You can count raisins too.
Harry Overly, the “head of the imagination”, president and CEO of Sun-Maid, said the raisin company saw a 1.4% increase last year in the number of American families that started eating raisins.
“We can see with certainty, especially in the past year, how consumers are leaning towards nostalgia and reconnecting with brands they remember from their childhood,” he said.
These are not raisins that Rex Chatterjee is looking for at home in the seaside town of Amagansett, New York, in the Hamptons. The delight of choice for Chatterjee, 34, and his wife is Oreos and rosé. He admits to diving from time to time.
“The combination,” he said, “is wonderful and comes with our highest recommendation.”